Deadlines for the NALAC Leadership Institute and Advocacy Leadership Institute are January 27.

Blooming in the Midst of Gentrification mural in San Francisco, California.

Photo Courtesy of Digital Mural Project, 2014.

Ethics of Development: A Shared Sense of Place

Arts and culture in Latino communities are a manifestation of the values, creativity, visions, and aspirations of the people who make those communities their home. Latino families-past, present, and future-simultaneously occupy physical and spiritual places that express who we are as a diverse humanity and as individuals. Very often, the physical layout of our communities is a framework for shared social and cultural activity. This layout, however, is never restricted to solely buildings, parks, centers, material neighborhoods, and so forth. It includes intangible or even temporal spaces that may be the result of cultural practices, such as the spaces in which marches, festivities, or ancestral rituals take place. These sites of spiritual and cultural meanings can even easily translate from one physical location to another.

This article by María López De León is part of the publication "How to Do Creative Placemaking," an action-oriented guide developed by the National Endowment of the Arts. The full publication is available online.

OCTOBER The Michigan Latinx Arts Summit brought together more than 150 artists, administrators, organizers, and students from across the state to strengthen existing networks.

Spend a week with arts leaders in San Antonio

NALAC is committed to investing in the artists and arts professionals who constitute the Latinx arts and culture field, which stretches across disciplines, geographies, and experiences.

The 17th NALAC Leadership Institute (NLI) is an intensive weeklong course focusing on leadership, management, and aesthetic practice. The NLI will take place in San Antonio on July 10-15, 2017. Visit the NLI website to learn more and download the application guidelines. The application is due January 27, 2017.

Become an arts advocate in DC

The 7th NALAC Advocacy Leadership (ALI) Institute includes a virtual two-month preparatory curriculum and three-day intensive course in Washington, D.C. Dates for the 2017 ALI in April or May will be finalized according to the congressional calendar. Visit the ALI website and download the application guidelines. The application is due January 27, 2017.

ALUMNI NEWS

Giselle Mercier (NLI '12) has been appointed the Deputy Director of Cultural and Artistic Expressions in the Office of the Mayor's Directorate of Culture & Education Department in Panama City, Panama. Leenda Bonilla (NLI '12, ALI '13) was named one of the 25 Influential Women of the Bronx 2016.

#GivingTuesday Gracias!

We raised $3,346 with the help of 64 donors!

The entire team is incredibly thankful to all of you who graciously donated to our #GiveAGigabyte campaign to help us upgrade our digital infrastructure. Luis and Gabriel at the office are already enjoying new computers. We are still accepting donations to help us reach our goal. You can submit your end-of-year donation to us here.

P.S. All of our Giving Tuesday donor's names can be seen in lights on our webpage!

Luis M. Garza

"Sometimes a career change..."

"Sometimes a career change is what is called for. For me, as professional photographer, it was time for a change from serving commercial entities to serving my community through the arts, so when an opportunity to get my foot in the door of a national arts organization arose I was ready. Interning at NALAC gave me the skills to interact in my personal and professional life through an arts and cultural lens. Through this lens I can see what social responsibility truly looks like and how collaboration is the grease that evolves our societies, cultures and individual beliefs. Interning at NALAC was my step, my pivot point to beginning a new career and now as Database and Digital Media Specialist for NALAC I continue to help the organization in it's mission." - Luis M. Garza

At the heart of a country embroiled in racial unrest, the arts can serve as an ideal vehicle for candid conversations about race matters. In a field as progressive as the arts, often we hear the refrain, "I don't see the color of the artist. I just present good art." Recognizing differences does not contribute to discrimination. Engaging artists different from your core community should elicit dialogue and encourage universal equity practices, which can become permanent pillars of your institution. Presented by Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA). Attend this session at the APAP conference in NYC.

Women of Color in the Arts Women's Leadership Forum

Leveraging Leadership: Addressing Bias in the Arts

Room: Sheraton Gramercy

Thursday, January 5, 2017, 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Speakers:

Kristy Edmunds, Center for Art and Performance, UCLA

Stephanie Hughley, Heirs Productions

Colleen Jennings-Roggensack, ASU Gammage

María López De León, NALAC

Even in our rapidly changing field in the 21st century, women in positions of power operate within a paradox - positioned and looked upon to mentor and empower other women, all the while dealing with inherent workplace biases and unrealistic expectations of performance and balancing work/life. Just trying to keep above the politics sometimes leaves little room to advocate for other women to take leadership roles. So once a few women have the platform, how do they encourage access and inclusion for more women in the arts? This forum will include an intimate conversation with women in senior leadership positions who've encountered and overcome bias, a workshop to help unpack and mitigate our own inherent gender and racial biases, and an open dialogue to discuss the successes, and how to navigate the challenges we face, as women working to create a more inclusive field. Attend this session at the APAP conference in NYC.

San Antonio | Latino Strategy Session

Friday, December 16, 2016, 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM

Saturday, December 17, 2016, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Westside Education and Training Center (WETC)

563 SW 40th Street, San Antonio, TX

Southwest Voter Registration Education Project and William C. Velásquez Institute will host a two-day session at the request of community Latino leaders worried and concerned about the policies that will be set by the next presidential administration. Latino leaders from throughout the state will meet and develop strategies that are short and long term. Co-conveners include MALDEF, Texas Hope, RAICES, Texas Public Policy and Civic Engagement, Las Comadres, Earth Day Network, Tejano Democrats, and NALAC. RSVP here.

The National Immigration Law Center developed a "Know Your Rights" Fact Sheet. NILC is also recommending: "If you do not currently have DACA and are considering whether to apply for it for the first time, we recommend that you not do so at this time. If you already have DACA and are considering whether to apply to renew it, immigration authorities already have the information on your original application, so there is less risk in submitting the renewal application." Click here for more information.

The Sofia Quintero Art and Culture Center invites all artists to apply to the 2017 Rasquache Artist Residency in Coapan, Cholula, Puebla, Mexico from June 3 to July 9. Artists working in all forms including but not limited to visual artists, poets, musicians, writers, ceramicists, historians, culinary artists, performers, muralists, digital/electronic artists, composers, and any other artistic forms of expression are welcome to apply. All expenses are covered for rooming, food, traveling within Mexico, and a small budget for each artist. The deadline is January 31, 2017.

The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is a legacy organization investing in the Latino heritage of this nation. For 27 years, NALAC has built a strong foundation for the promotion of Latino arts and culture and its advocacy efforts have advanced issues of cultural equity and raised the visibility and understanding of Latino artistic and cultural expression. The National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) is the nation's leading nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to the promotion, advancement, development, and cultivation of the Latino arts field. In this capacity, NALAC stimulates and facilitates intergenerational dialogues among disciplines, languages, and traditional and contemporary expressions. NALAC serves thousands of Latino artists and hundreds of organizations representing a national and international community of multiple Latinidades; a network that crosses many cultures across the Latino Diaspora. For more information visit our website at www.nalac.org or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Nalac.arts1.